My paternal grandparents raised a houseful of children on a very meager income back in the days when cold, hard cash was quite hard to come by. They didn’t have insurance, so trips to the doctor were reserved only for the most serious of conditions. How did they manage to raise right at a dozen kids into adulthood while only rarely taking them to see a physician? By using herbal remedies that had been handed down to them by their own parents and grandparents!
My mom often recounts how Granddaddy Rouse would hike off into the woods and return home a bit later with a bag full of black cohosh, goldenseal, spearmint, peppermint, slippery elm bark, or whatever other herb treating the affliction at hand called for. And their success rates with those time-tested herbal remedies were evidently quite good since virtually all of their children lived to a ripe old age!
It’s actually rather amusing to pick up a bottle of “medicine” at the pharmacy only to discover that the active ingredient is often one of the very same herbs that my grandparents harvested and used so many years ago. Modern medicine is truly a gift from God, but all of those timeless herbal remedies are every bit as precious.
Disclaimer: Some herbs can be harmful to your health if used improperly or in inappropriate dosage amounts. My grandma and granddaddy knew exactly how to use them safely, but it would probably be wise for the rest of us to consult a physician before using any herbal remedy for the first time.
Unfortunately my parents stock remedy was castor oil. Ugh!!!!!